A lot of people liked the idea of Walking in Stations (WiS). Sadly it never became more than the Captains Quarters where you’d walk around in, access some features one could do better with the regular UI, and sit on a couch. Still, it was pretty and immersive to see your customized character idling around.
As of recently, CCP seems to put a focus and some resources on character animations. For example the hologram of Aura in the new Upwell hangars, the agent in the Evermore Paragon mission interface, or the various empires commanding figures pictured on the propaganda structures in Faction Warfare. There are the “talking heads” in the New Player Experience and of course the rendering in the character sheet.
Why not go a step further?
As the Captains Quarters showed, there is no need to have players walk around and spread UI features within some 3D space. At least not when you can’t do anything else but access functionality that you can get more effectively in a regular 2D UI. So I’d say skip the walking part. At least for as long as you can’t let players through THE DOOR to interact with each other. Just skip that then.
But people still enjoy looking at their characters. So… How about static scenes, animated but with a static or limited moveable camera, with character renderings instead the tiny, boring pod?
- Standing on a balcony overlooking the hangar in various poses
- Sitting in a bar looking out the window into the hangar/space even (you can “look outside” on upwell structures already, imagine how cool that would be from inside trade hubs! Like in the actual Pulse Episodes…)
- Leaning against a cargo container, studying lists on a holo-tablet
- Sitting in some lounge, looking at the hologram of a ship or the current faction warfare map
Maybe even change that scene depending on active UI elements? E.g. the character pulling out a holo-tablet while the player browses the market, or a holographic ship while the fitting window is open. So much potential for cool stuff…
Like in the Uprising Expansion Launch Trailer – just without the walking:
I often spend time docked, chatting, waiting some minutes until the fleet is ready, ship spinning, or just in the fitting simulation. Having my capsuleer in view while doing that would be pretty cool.
This wasn’t my idea initially. I just added to it. The initial thought came from u/MuteyMute.
the greybill 